Everyday Systems

I just started the NoSdiet because I was eating chocolate and cookies daily! The snacking wasn't that bad but it was increasing slowly.

But it is just so hard. Has anyone else faced this problem and on the first day? I'm already missing my lunchtime chocolate.

Hopefully, it will get easier.

I'ts been a while since my first day. But it does get easier and even easy. I no longer crave sweets, though I still, on occasion, wrestle eating to boost my mood when I'm upset.

So it does get easier. Yayyyy!!! That does help, you know.

My issue is craving savory snacks (crisps and all kinds of fried stuff) when nervous or habitual sweet eating. I say habitual because now I have associated the end of any meal with a sweet. Meal doesn't end unless I have something sweet.

But when I'm upset, I want to yell at someone. Predictably, no one is available. So I end up ranting to the only person who HAS to listen. Mom. Maybe a long rant would help you too?

Cheers!!!

I gently say that it's a little scary that you are so worried about it possibly staying hard on the very first day. Statistically, changing eating behavior permanently is hard! Witness decades of failure.

No S-ers have very different experiences regarding when it gets easy. I would say it's better to expect that it will get easier to accept/ignore when it's hard. And be delighted and grateful if it gets easy fast

I'm fond of saying that even No S can be hard. It just turns out that everything else is usually even harder.

BrightAngel, you can step in anytime with your manta about "hard."

oolala53 wrote:BrightAngel, you can step in anytime with your manta about "hard."

Losing Weight is Hard.
Maintaining Weight-Loss is Hard.
Being Fat is Hard.
Choose your Hard!

Dare I join in and say that LIFE is hard?
Hmmm, but on the other hand, I don't think you want the alternative either...

Seriously, behaving responsibly IS difficult, but you have chosen to use NoS to do what you know is right for your body. Hang in there, and be encouraged. Doing the right thing has its own rewards, even when it's hard, no, ESPECIALLY when it's hard. And habit will eventually kick in so that it at least seems normal, if not easy.

You can do it!!!

I've been at this for almost 8 years and it definitely does get easier, but there are still occasional temptations. And sometimes you give in to those temptations. Ii did earlier this week and it was worth every bite.

Thanks for all the support. I guess I would need it.

I purposely started it on a Friday and at least, that was successful. Today and tomorrow are S days and I will still follow the no seconds and no snacks both today and tomorrow.

Hopefully, I would get into the habit soon.

Cheers!!!

I hope you are deciding not to have snacks and seconds on these S days because you really deep down know that you will not get any real satisfaction from having them. Otherwise, why make it hard on the weekends?

Whatever you decide, enjoy every bite!

I don't want to have them this weekend at least. I think I need to feel like I deserve it. With just one day of no S, I don't think I deserve a snack. Plus, snacking is not too much trouble for me personally. I can go days without snacking. So I thought it would be nice to set myself into a routine.

Sweets are especially difficult for me so I'm going slow on that front. At least, it will cut down my grocery bill!

elegantportions wrote:

Dare I join in and say that LIFE is hard?
Hmmm, but on the other hand, I don't think you want the alternative either...

Seriously, behaving responsibly IS difficult, but you have chosen to use NoS to do what you know is right for your body. Hang in there, and be encouraged. Doing the right thing has its own rewards, even when it's hard, no, ESPECIALLY when it's hard. And habit will eventually kick in so that it at least seems normal, if not easy.

You can do it!!!

Life is hard. But the secret is, that it even gets harder if you don't face it. Or in the words of the great Mr. Balboa:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIvocAfGy2E

what has helped me lately is just cutting down on sugar, period. and staying away from artificial sweeteners - in some cases they can make the sugar cravings worse. it might help you with craving sweets. it definitely has helped me.

I have only been following this for 6 days of which 2 were S days. I did fail 2 days but I am happy to report that my sweet cravings have diminished. Yippee!!!

For the past two days, I have not felt too bad about not eating sweets. I do eat fruits but then I love the freshness of fruits.

Though I was dreaming of pastries and lots of sweet treats on Monday, visuals of sweet treats do not dance in front of my eyes now. I probably will have a relapse but the S days help.

I feel bad cravings around 3 hrs after lunch though, which is still a good 3.5 to 4 hrs from dinner. So I guess I need to do something about it. Ah well! It is good to have a challenge.

Cheers!!!

Congrats on your efforts! Even with two fails, I'd bet those N days of eating were still a bit different than your days were a couple of weeks ago. Slowly slowly.

For most of us, fruits are not "sweets."

You are just getting going. Things will change and change and change. Cravings come and go and come and... No system can guarantee that all desire for extra food will go away forever. No S to me is more about having a structure that allows me to negotiate the exposure to food and the intermittent rise and fall of desire.

Keep at it! Vow to give yourself the chance to be able to look back at months of pretty high compliance. That's the only useful vantage point. Be like a curious scientist. She keeps data but doesn't try to draw any conclusions about what is actually happening until there's enough information to see a true pattern.